Classroom Voices, May. 04

America is not the greatest country in the world. However, we American people seem to think otherwise.

But what makes America so great? Is it freedom? Other countries have freedom.

So is opportunity what makes America great? History shows us that immigrants flocked to America in search of a better life. But nowadays the unemployment rate has been near or above 8 percent for a very long time.

The fact of the matter is, America is not the greatest country in the world, at least not anymore. In history, the American young people were able to achieve greatness because they were informed and involved in the politics that shape our nation.

As an 18-year-old college student, I am not afraid to say that I am a part of the worst generation ever. We do not aspire to intelligence, and we do not involve ourselves in politics.

America could once again be the greatest country in the world. It just takes the involvement of America's youth.

— Denise Lamm, Oak Forest, student, Moraine Valley Community College

Changing the world

I want to change the world. But with so many global issues, how is one supposed to choose what to do?

More important, how am I, a college sophomore with little idea of what I want to do with my life, supposed to know how to help anyone else?

But when I think about it, I am the perfect person to do something. I have amazing family and community support. This is the time in my life when I am supposed to soak up as much knowledge and information and experience as possible.

So what is holding me back?

Me.

The last piece of the puzzle is the belief in myself, that I can go out and help people if I find the desire and will.

As a student at Washington University in St. Louis, I have been given many great opportunities. For example, I have had the chance to hear from world-renowned professors, study beside amazing students, and now I have heard President Bill Clinton tell me and some 1,000 students from around the world that we can do whatever we put our minds to.

I first heard about the Clinton Global Initiative University about six months ago. To apply, an individual or group had to make a Commitment to Action, a plan to do good either in the area of public health, education, peace and human rights, sustainability or poverty alleviation.

Two of my friends and I racked our brains for a problem that we, as college undergrads, could tackle.

That's when we came up with the idea of creating a texting hotline in South Africa that would connect survivors of rape and sexual violence to various medical, psychological and social support facilities.

Our Commitment to Action was not only accepted into CGIU, but it was also chosen as one of 16 projects, out of the thousands of applied commitments, to compete in the Commitment Bracket Challenge.

This was a Sweet 16-style elimination bracket, where we were fortunate enough to reach the Final Four.

Throughout the conference, which was held April 5-7 at Washington University, we were repeatedly asked three questions: Why did you choose to do a texting hotline? Why deal with rape and sexual violence? And why South Africa?

There were a number of answers we gave at the conference, including my familiarity having visited there when my brother lived in Lesotho for two years with the Peace Corps. The people's struggle with health issues, like HIV/AIDS, really made an impression on me.

But the main reason came down to statistics.

More than 64,000 rapes are reported each year in South Africa. However, this is estimated to be only one in 20 occurrences. In a survey of school-age children in a town outside of Johannesburg, a quarter of the boys said "jackrolling," or gang rape, was fun.

How could one not be floored by these facts? The extremely high prevalence and low reporting rates create a serious problem.

The lack of access to services and the high use of cell phones in South Africa led us to put together a plan that we truly believed in.

Hearing success stories from amazing people at the conference inspired us to not give up.

We believe that our texting hotline could be an integral component in increasing access to care for abused women all over the world. Through our experience at CGIU, we have become passionate about fighting the issue of sexual violence.

We want to change the world. We found the who, what, where, how and why. There really aren't any other important questions standing in our way.

— Emily Santos, Palos Park, sophomore at Washington University in St. Louis